A Dash of Vampire (Cocktails in Hell Book 4), page 13
“Release her to me, Ariel. She is one fairy worth nothing to you.”
Ariel’s bottom lip went out. “Worth nothing?” Her lips pulled away from her teeth. “When she means something to someone else, she means something to me. So, no. I don’t think I will.”
Shadows broke from Lachlan’s skin. “Release her, Ariel. I will not ask you again.”
Ariel’s laugh sounded high and merry. A shiver of terror rolled down my spine. “And what will you do to me? Any move you make constitutes an act of war. Your guests are here at my tolerance only. They are not welcome in my lands, and if they make one move against me, I will bring the full force of fae law down upon their heads.”
“You should rethink your stance,” Lachlan said, his voice growing impatient. “Release Keelie to us, and we will leave in peace.”
“In peace?” Her laughter turned deeper. “Have you not come seeking my goodwill, and now you threaten me in my home?”
Lucifer stepped forward. “We only want Keelie. That’s all.”
Her head tilted, Ariel’s sharp gaze roaming Lucifer’s body. He stiffened almost imperceptibly under her perusal.
“Lucifer Morningstar,” she drawled. “What an honor for you to appear in my court.”
Lucifer inclined his head. “The honor is mine, Your Majesty.”
“Why do you want Keelie so badly? She is dishonored. There is grave evidence against her, showing she is a traitor to my rule.”
The dust. Shit. She found it.
“How so?” he inquired. “She has served my court with honor.”
A shimmering tear rolled down Keelie’s cheek. She slid down the bars until only her hair was visible.
“My spies found proof Keelie assisted a prisoner in their escape.”
Me. She spoke of me. Does she not realize how close Lucifer and I are?
“Which prisoner? Is it one I need to worry about?”
Clever, clever devil.
Ariel’s eye twitched. “I do not release information about my prisoners.”
“Ah. Well, it’s interesting you say this because I recently had one of my people…detained in your lands.”
“A mere misunderstanding,” Ariel said. “I had nothing to do with her capture.”
“Oh?”
Rage bloomed in my heart.
“There was an…intruder with a vested interest in your Violet. He thought he could use my lands to detain her.”
“And now you disavow this intruder?”
Many legends of the fae said they cannot lie. Others claimed they view lying as dishonor. Either way, they consider it abhorrent. Whether or not they can remains to be seen.
If she disavowed Michael, we would catch her in a lie. If she claimed she had no knowledge of my captivity, she’d be lying. She claimed she had nothing to do with my capture. She didn’t say she had anything to do with keeping me detained.
Ariel changed tactics. “What will you give me for her?”
“You will give her to us, or you will regret it,” Lucifer said, all signs of the courtier gone from his tone.
I was surprised he stayed civil this long.
“How dare you threaten me in my own court,” Ariel seethed.
Lucifer sighed. “You are no longer the queen of this court, Ariel. You threw away that right when you sided with Archangel Michael.”
Her face went white as bone.
“You violated your neutral territory status when you chose to ally yourself with a non-fae party.”
Lachlan stepped forward. “Release Keelie to us, and we will leave here without stripping your crown. It is more than you deserve.”
A strand of pink magic whipped from Ariel and flew straight to the cage. I stepped forward, my hand reaching for it, but I couldn’t stop the inevitable.
The loud crack of a neck breaking sounded in the room.
“Nooooo,” I moaned. “Keelie!”
Magic exploded from Lachlan, tearing into Ariel and slamming her against her throne. Strands of dark shadows writhed against her form keeping her trapped against the seat.
Lucifer released the cage from its hook and gently floated it down. I scrambled over to the cage, babbling Keelie’s name. Both fairies lay prone.
But one’s head lay at an unnatural angle.
“Violet?” Keelie whispered. Her eyes were wide and shocked.
“Oh thank the gods,” I whispered, my nails clawing at the lock. When it wouldn’t give, I whispered a word. It fell away with a wisp of smoke.
“Come. Don’t fly. Walk for now. I will keep you safe.”
Keelie struggled to her feet. I winced at the bumps, cuts, and bruises all over her body. Holding my hand out, she stepped onto my palm. I carefully tucked her against my body for a moment before I opened my sweater. “It has a pocket inside. Climb in. We’ll be home in just a minute.”
“I can’t go back with you,” she said, her words shuddering.
“Why the hell not?” I hissed.
“Ariel has proclaimed me dishonored. If I left, I’d never be able to return home.”
Of all the stupid, antiquated rules. “Do you want to return here?”
She shivered as she settled into my pocket. “Not now. One day, maybe.” Keelie lifted wide eyes to me. “I want my future children to know their home.”
The anger drained from me. “I’ll figure it out. I promise.”
She nodded and curled into a little ball. My heart broke for her.
Olive’s neck lay at an unnatural angle, her eyes wide and unseeing. I never liked her much, but she didn’t deserve to die like she had. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a silken scarf and covered her body with it. Keelie trembled in my pocket, her tiny body shaking against my ribs. I palmed the pocket gently, just to let her know I understood.
The sound of screaming reached my ears a second before I turned around.
Lucifer loomed over Ariel, massive wings of shadow springing from his back. His eyes glowed crimson as he spoke words I couldn’t understand.
Lachlan’s jaw was clenched as he watched them. I touched his elbow. “What’s going on?”
Andric answered for him. “He’s reading her memories. It’s a rare talent. Not many fae possess the power of truth, so seeing it in use through someone else is a treat.”
I didn’t think watching torture was any kind of treat, but Andric must be built different.
“What will happen to her?”
Andric shrugged. “If he’s smart, he will kill her.”
Lachlan sent him a reproving glance. “He can’t. There’s no one else to rule these people.”
“Up until a little while ago, you were the king of this land.” Andric gave him a meaningful look.
Lachlan snorted. “A king in name only for her court. These people cannot mix with ours. I swore allegiance to Violet’s court and cannot lead two kingdoms simultaneously.”
This is at least the second time I heard the word court when referring to me. I had no court. I was no queen or ruler. I was merely a bartender. A Brewer and reluctant Guardian.
“There is no one else? Ariel has no children? She’s immortal, right? No other marriages or heirs?”
Andric’s dark chuckle told me all I needed to know.
“Oh. No one else would marry her?” Even as I said the words, I knew the answer.
“She had to force Lachlan into it through trickery.”
Lachlan waved Andric’s words away as if it were a bad memory rather than something he lived for hundreds of years up until only a few hours ago.
A soft grunting sound was curious enough to draw my attention. Lucifer still stood over Ariel, but his teeth had drawn back from his lips. Drops of sweat beaded on his forehead.
A fine stream of blood poured down his nose.
I touched Lachlan’s arm. Every hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Something was wrong.
Lucifer could crush Ariel like a bug. Why was he struggling to contain her?
I clutched Lachlan. “Be ready,” I murmured so low only he could hear me. He stilled under my touch.
I sent a wisp of magic out, searching, searching, searching. The throne room was empty on our floor, but something waited above. A heartbeat, thumping with anticipation, and a staggering amount of magic.
Familiar magic.
Ariel began to laugh.
“Get out of here,” I murmured to Lachlan. “Take Andric and go.”
“I’m not leaving you.” His brows were drawn together, and I realized Lachlan couldn’t sense him. Could I because we shared blood? Clara stepped closer to the king, ready to force him if I couldn’t.
“You are the Unseelie King. And if things go how I think they may, you’ll be the king of Ariel’s lands too. Leave, Lachlan. I can take care of myself.” I saw the scenarios play out behind his eyes. He knew as I well as I did that I was right. All the fae lands depended on him surviving. Because if I had my way, Ariel would die today.
He swore under his breath. Andric stared between us. “What is it?”
Archangel Michael stepped out from beneath a magic dampening cloak.
“Hello, daughter,” he said.
Judas Iscariot stood right next to him.
chapter twenty
Lucifer’s attention didn’t waver from Ariel. He was locked in a battle I couldn’t help him with, no doubt aided by Michael. If it were only Ariel, I wouldn’t worry, but Michael appeared to be feeding her power or had given her something to fight Lucifer.
I couldn’t worry about saving him right now because I had to worry about saving us all.
“Leave,” I snapped at Andric. “Now.”
The fae’s eyes flicked between me, Lucifer, and Michael before he gave me a grim smile. “Happy hunting, Guardian.”
Lachlan’s eyes widened. He reached for me, but Andric clamped his hand around the king’s arm and Clara’s and teleported away, hopefully back to the Unseelie lands. Clara was about to get more travel than she ever bargained for.
Michael smiled. “It’s so sweet how you always try to save everyone, Violet.” He floated down from the area above the throne room, settling several feet away. “That is your name, isn’t it? Or is it Ignasia?”
“Violet is fine.” I jerked my head toward Lucifer. “What did you do to him?” I couldn’t look at Jude. If I did, I’d kill him where he stood, no matter what that note he left behind said.
Michael grinned. On anyone else, I might have said they glowed. But an undercurrent of vicious glee lurked in his smile. He enjoyed seeing Lucifer suffer, but he enjoyed causing it more.
He looked like a hero of old. Every muscle sharp and cut, golden hair, golden skin, golden armor. Physically, Michael stood as the epitome of goodness. You’d never notice his rotten core if you didn't know him.
Blood bubbled from Ariel’s mouth, her wild grin never failing.
“Something new. I thought it might be fun to link a tendril of my power with Ariel to see if I could control Lucifer.” He chuckled. “So far, it’s a rousing success.”
Jude stood like a statue.
“You want to know the best thing about it?”
Michael wanted to be adored. An eagerness vibrated through him, like a puppy seeking validation of its existence. He wanted me to ask.
Since I needed to buy some time, I played his game. Surviving took a lot of wit, but it mostly took a deep understanding of psychology and a healthy dose of paranoia.
“What?”
He leaned forward and cupped his hand over his mouth like he was telling me a secret. “Ariel is a puppet. If I cut the cord just so—” he made a cutting motion with his hand—” Ariel will die.” A laugh rumbled from his mighty chest. “She didn’t ask or assume I might dig deeper than she wanted me to go.” His eyes gleamed. “I see all her secrets, Violet. I know exactly how much she wanted to kill you when she realized you were here.” Michael vibrated with delight. “One day, I’ll tell you all the things she wanted to do to you. Ariel is a wicked, wicked girl.”
“Why don’t you kill her then?”
His eyebrows rose. “So bloodthirsty. With Lilith’s blood, I’m not surprised.”
Lilith wasn’t the bloodthirsty one here.
I stepped closer to Lucifer. “If she means nothing to you, then what’s the big deal. Kill her and take her kingdom for your own.”
Keelie shook like a leaf against my body. I hope she knew I was bluffing.
“It’s not quite that easy. I’m not a tyrant. I’m a liberator.”
“Ah. Sometimes it’s the same thing.”
He didn’t like that. Michael’s lip curled into a sneer. “And what would you know? You, a creature who’d hidden from me for millennia. Don’t you know I had so much to teach you? We could rule worlds together, daughter. Instead, you choose to defy me.”
I stared at him for a beat. “I think you ruined that whole daddy-daughter fantasy when you took me from my mother’s arms and tossed me into Hellfire.”
His eyes flashed. “Lilith told you that?” Michael snorted derisively. “She’s always had a silver tongue. Much like her deceiver husband.”
“She told me nothing. I remember.” His massive hands wrapping around my tiny body. The way he ripped me away from Lilith. The callous way he tossed me into the river of fire like I was nothing but trash. “I remember.”
Something flickered in his eyes. “Impossible. You remember nothing.”
“I remember everything.” I flung my hand out. “You want the world, but you plan to destroy it. Are you so delusional you think you’d be a better ruler than God?”
“God has forsaken us all,” he snapped. “Who do you think has been ruling this world for the last thousand years, girl?”
“Is that why it’s so shitty?” I snapped back. “Death. War. Plague. Strife. Worse than it’s ever been. People can barely afford to eat, and you think you’re doing better?”
“Violet.” The word was a shaking whisper.
Michael’s gaze flicked to Lucifer. His lips tightened with displeasure.
The Devil fought Michael’s hold.
Ariel keened a high-pitched wail.
Jude still stood there like a statue, his eyes glued to my face.
“Let him go,” I said to Michael.
The Archangel laughed. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I asked you nicely.”
Michael’s eyebrows went up. “Ah. Does this politeness get you far in your world?”
No, but it did buy me time to complete the spell I slowly unfurled. I wore my potions belt, but he’d notice if I accessed them. My training wasn’t complete, but I still had several tricks up my sleeve.
I changed the subject. “Why do you need Ariel? It doesn’t make sense. Her people are peaceful. Why would they fight for you?”
“They fight where Ariel tells them to fight, but I don’t want her people. You misunderstand my purpose here.”
I held my hands out. “I’m all ears.” Villains always loved to talk. A tale as old as time.
Jude’s fingers moved, tapping against his leg in the same few gestures over and over. Tap. Hold. Tap. Pause. Two short taps. Long hold. Short tap. Long, long, tap.
What was he trying to tell me? I went through everything I knew in my head, listening with one ear as Michael talked.
It hit me a moment later.
Morse code.
R-I-N-G.
Ring? Like a telephone? A bell?
Or…
I kept my face carefully neutral, stepping a hair closer to Lucifer to hide my left arm. When I made my potions belt all those years ago, I’d added a few extra small pouches just in case. After I escaped the dragon keep the first time, I made one of those a magic nulling pouch. It took a while, and I only used it to hold the strange ring I brought back from the keep.
There’d been little time to investigate it, so I kept it there, tucked safe next to my potions, unused.
Jude’s tapping became more frantic.
S-O-L-M.
No. That wasn’t it.
S-O-L-E-M.
Solemn?
What the hell, Jude? Maybe we were both rusty on our Morse Code.
While Michael jabbered about his right to rule by law, I carefully eased my arm back and opened the pouch, sliding my finger down and hooking it in the ring.
Power, unholy, earth-shattering power, slammed into me.
Michael stopped talking.
“What is that?” His face went blank. “What. Is. That?” He took a step toward me.
Jude’s eyes squeezed shut. I’m sorry, he mouthed.
I couldn’t speak. A whistling wheeze bubbled from my lips. Magic locked my entire body, more power than I thought possible screaming through my blood.
“WHO COMMANDS US?” A booming voice rang in my head.
Fire tore through my skin. I could smell everything, see everything. Colors swirled in the air, rainbow iridescence, the DNA of the universe. An ant scurried over the throne room, worried about its queen. Keelie’s magic pulsed over my skin, pale pink, her blood a bright lavender. Jude glowed with an ethereal golden light, and Michael…a rotten core of darkness throbbed around him.
Lucifer hissed in pain.
“WHO HOLDS US?”
“I DO,” I roared mentally. I had no idea what the fuck I held or who the hell spoke to me, and I questioned my sanity for trusting Jude, but I couldn’t take on Michael by myself. When a frontal assault didn’t work, trickery was the next best thing in my arsenal.
This…whatever this was, it was far from trickery.
“WHAT IS YOUR WISH?”
Michael’s face sharpened, his eyes narrowing. “No,” he whispered. “It isn’t possible.”
Jude held an arm out to keep Michael from me. “What? What is it?”
Michael ripped his arm away.
I gritted my teeth and forced movement into my limbs, clamping my hand around Lucifer.
I blinked and stood on another plane.
He and Ariel stood on a decimated wasteland. Bones and blood lay scattered as far as the eye could see. Neither of them moved. A single foot apart, they stared at each other, lost in the other’s eyes.
“PRINCESS,” boomed the voice. “WE AWAIT YOUR WORD.”
Lucifer blinked. Drawing in a shuddering breath, he stepped away from Ariel. When he saw me standing next to him, his face went bone white.
